Volume 9 Issue 30

Bulk-oil Bilkers Beware

Warren Oil Co. on Friday said it will begin using tracers in several of its lube oils as early as September, after learning that some bulk distributors had commingled its lubricants with others. The purpose of this program is to control quality, to determine whose oil is in a customers tank and to deter commingling, the company stated. We have recently become aware that our Warren, Coastal and Lubriguard products are in some instances being commingled at distributor plants with other brands of ...

Marine Lubes Feel Shippers' Pain

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Shipping rates have plunged, and experts predict some ship owners will not survive the recession. While the global base oil trade sees lower freight rates, the shipping crisis has put great stress on the marine lubricant industry. Three industry experts discussed shipping and freight trends, challenges for marine lubricant suppliers and possible solutions to those challenges at the ICIS Asian Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here in late June. About four bi...

Afton Invests in Asia Pacific

Afton Chemical has entered a long-term chemical processing agreement with toll manufacturer Chemical Specialties (Singapore) Pte Ltd. to improve its security of supply and provide shorter lead-times with products specific to customers in the Asia Pacific region. The long-term agreement with Chemical Specialties (Singapore) Pte Ltd. is for manufacturing, blending and storage of petroleum additives, spokeswoman Lauren Ereio told Lube Report. The site will produce lubricant additives, she confirme...

SK Confirms Spin-Off

SK Energys lubricants division, which recorded a 73.6 billion South Korean won (U.S. $59.1 million) operating loss in the second quarter, will be spun off into a new, wholly-owned subsidiary. Earlier this month SK Energy outlined the plan, expecting to conclude the legal process by Oct. 1, and selecting spin-off as a way to maintain full control of the new lubricant entity. SK Energy has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders Sept. 11 to officially approve it. The lubricants ...

Valvoline Posts Record Results

Lubricant blender Valvoline reported record operating income of $95 million for the quarter ending June 30, a 265 percent jump from $26 million in the year-earlier period. According to parent company Ashland, whose fiscal year ends Sept. 30, factors driving Valvolines improved quarterly performance included a combination of pricing actions that began in 2008, lower raw materials costs in the quarter, cost-savings initiatives and a continued shift in mix toward sales of premium brands. Valvolin...

Lukoil Axes Underperformer

Lukoil-Neftekhim announced last month that it will close an ethanolamine plant at its refinery in Burgas, Bulgaria. A spokesman for parent Lukoil said the plant was not making money. Ethanolamines are used for a variety of applications, including as chemical intermediates to provide properties such as corrosion inhibition and emulsification in lubricants. Ethanolamines are one of several products being closed out at Burgas, effective next month. Spokesman Vladimir Semakov confirmed yesterday t...

Dover Debuts PIBSA Production

Dover Chemical Corp. now commercially produces PIBSA and derivative products at its Hammond, Ind., facility. PIBSA is a chemical intermediate used in additives, while the derivatives are used as soluble oil emulsifiers in metalworking fluids. According to Dover, PIBSA (polyisobutylene succinic anhydride) is a chemical intermediate that adds functionalities such as dispersion to hydrocarbon products used in applications such as additives for lubricants, biofuels, oil drilling, explosives, coatin...

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

A number of routes reported increases in demand and a slight strengthening of freight rates. Transatlantic in both directions saw more enquiries, and more business was seen into India and the Middle East Gulf. Asia outbound too is seeing rates on some of the palm oil and chemical requirements just beginning to lift fractionally. Outside these areas however, it has been business pretty much as normal, with no significant developments either way. U.S. Gulf of Mexico It has been a very long time s...